Revision as of 15:20, 10 October 2018

Nintendo's logo.

Nintendo is a Japanese entertainment company founded in 1889 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. The company began as a manufacturer of playing cards, but got into the electronic gaming industry in the 1970s. They are now one of the largest video game companies in the world. Over the years, Nintendo has created arcade cabinets, dedicated home video game systems, video game consoles, hand held gaming devices, hundreds of games, dozens of video game peripherals, magazines, comic books, television shows, and even breakfast cereals.

I became aware of Nintendo in the mid-1980s with the American release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I first saw it played at my baby-sitter's house who owned an NES with Super Mario Bros., Popeye, and a couple other games. I remember being amazed by it, but our baby-sitters (whom I hated) wouldn't let us play with it. A short while later, my brother and I bought an NES with our combined paper route money. We both bought and rented various games over the years. Nintendo fever was in full force at this time, and the majority of my friends had an NES and plenty of games. I was severely engrossed in video gaming, and it's mostly due to Nintendo. Around 1992, I got a Super Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas and played many games. After the Nintendo 64 came out, I was becoming less interested in dedicated video game consoles, and I haven't bought a new system since.

I've read a couple books about the history of Nintendo, and I've become a bit disenfranchised with them. Despite their fun and playful public face they've actually been a very ruthless company that relied on anti-competitive tactics and shady business deals to become as popular as they were.

Consoles

Handheld

Games

As far as games go, Nintendo is my favorite video game developer, having created more of my favorite games and franchises than any other company. Here are some of the games Nintendo created that are important to me.